AN NHS group has unveiled its blueprint for the future of local health services. Ellesmere Port & Neston Primary Care Trust (PCT) has unveiled its corporate plan, which is centred on guidelines laid down by the Government and priorities based on the needs of the towns. Every trust in the country has produced its own plan. Ellesmere Port & Neston PCT's document explains how it will achieve these aims and where future investment will be. A trust spokeswoman said: 'A great deal of extra funding is going into the entire NHS. 'But significant local funding is also needed to pay for the greater number of operations and other procedures local hospitals will undertake in order to meet tough Government targets to slash waiting times for patients. 'For instance, patients wait no longer than 12 months for an operation or other procedure now. By the end of March 2004, they will wait no longer than nine months. 'Similarly, patients currently wait a maximum of 21 weeks for an out-patient appointment, but this will drop to 17 weeks by March.' A great deal of extra funding will be needed to pay for the additional staff time and resources, such as the day-case unit at the Countess of Chester hospital, to hit and maintain these targets next March. There will also be more orthopaedic treatment, extra community beds to keep elderly patients out of hospital, and additional A&E staff to ensure no one waits more than four hours to be seen. The spokeswoman added: 'Modernising and improving services does not depend entirely on funding. 'Working with other PCTs and local hospitals, we will seize the opportunity to review the way primary care and community services are designed and delivered, and the way in which community services work with hospital services.' The trust will look at improving cardiac rehabilitation by combining hospital and community programmes to ensure it meets patients' needs, and review services to ensure patients have prompt access to counselling when they need it. | 
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